Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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patchwork recruiting class in 2010. The son of Bill Rees, a prominent recruiting coordinator at UCLA from 1979-94 before becoming an NFL scout, the younger Rees always has been a football junkie and plans to stay in the family business in some capacity. His knowledge of the game, 18game starting experience and proven abilities in the clutch help allay the trepidation of losing Golson. "We're all really confident in his abilities," fifth-year senior left guard Chris Watt said. "His confidence shines through our offense. We know when he comes into the huddle that he means business and we're going to get the job done. He's going to get us into the right play regardless of the situation, regardless of the look, because I like to think that he's the smartest quarterback in NCAA football. He knows defenses in and out." 2013 Job Description The roles for Rees in 2013 are standard for any quarterback: Leadership and command, consistency, minimize the bad plays and play within your parameters. "As long as he continues to pick up where he left off last year while making good decisions, we'll be in good shape," Kelly said. The differences between 8-5 in 2011 and 12-1 in 2012 were mainly twofold. One, the 2012 defense was much more consistently dominant. Two, the 2011 edition had 29 turnovers, while last year it had only 15. Rees said he has a better appreciation of what it means to "cut your losses" on any given play. Sometimes the "best play" is taking the sack or throwing the ball away. "That's no secret and nothing I take lightly," Rees said of the turnovers. "Two years ago, a lot of those mistakes didn't come on throws where I couldn't get it there. It was more of trying to force them when it's not there. When a bad play [from the start] is bad, don't try to make it better. That's something I fully understand. "I'm not 19 anymore like a couple of years ago, and the emphasis of being a leader, working hard every day in the weight room, and just pushing myself to the point where I can feel myself being better, feel myself being stronger, quicker [is there]." Rees — who, according to Kelly, doubled his 225-pound bench press to 10 reps this summer — played an instrumental role in salvaging the 2010 season, and the team would not have finished No. 1 last year in the regular season without his moxie and execution. The final chapter will be attempting to do it for a full season as the starter. What Defines A Good Year? There is always a numbers fascination with quarterbacks, but that doesn't necessarily define a "good year" for the team. Clausen set a single-season passing efficiency mark at Notre Dame in 2009, but the team finished only 6-6 (missing the opportunity to win games late with just one completion or one scoring drive against Michigan, USC, Navy, Pitt and UConn). Paul Hornung won the Heisman in 1956 — but the team was 2-8. The next season the Irish did not possess a